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James Hadfield
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 25, 2021
‘The Blue Danube’: Finding levity in the drudgery of war
Akira Ikeda's absurdist drama about two towns locked in an interminable war finds humor in tragedy and boredom.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2021
Pushing against the grain of Japan’s film industry
Industry gatekeepers have been resistant to the idea that an India-born director can make a Japanese film. With “Kontora,” Anshul Chauhan isn't trying to endear himself to any of them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2021
‘The Sun Stands Still’: Race against time fails to pick up the pace
Eiichiro Hasumi's big-budget thriller about globe-trotting spies is not quite Japan's answer to the “Mission: Impossible” movies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2021
Director Kentaro brings an auteur’s touch to a soulful road movie
The 'Under the Turquoise Sky' director mixes realism, fantasy and comedy in his visually stirring feature debut about a Japanese man who goes on a journey of self-discovery in Mongolia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 25, 2021
‘Heisei no Oto’: A sonic trip to the golden age of CDs
Osaka record store owners Eiji Taniguchi and Norio Sato have unearthed some musical treasures from 1989-96 for this bright and buoyant compilation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2021
‘The Murders of Oiso’: A whodunnit in search of a crime
Takuya Misawa's stylish and enigmatic murder mystery centers on a quartet of friends thrown into disarray after a sudden death in their town.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2021
‘In Those Days’: Say hello to the fanboy life of days gone by
Rikiya Imaizumi's bittersweet comedy-drama delves into the fan culture that flourished during the heyday of idol collective Hello! Project in the early 2000s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2021
‘The Cinderella Addiction’: Can stepmothers get their happily ever after?
Ryohei Watanabe's tragicomedy about the dark side of parenting is fitfully stylish, but gets a little too twisted for its own good.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 20, 2021
‘I Fell in Love Like a Flower Bouquet’: Millennial romance with a Gen X heart
Kasumi Arimura and Masaki Suda star in an entertaining but inauthentic portrait of 2010s romance, penned by veteran TV screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 13, 2021
‘Woman of the Photographs’: An existentialist fable for the Instagram age
Takeshi Kushida's debut feature playfully riffs on Kobo Abe's novel, “The Woman in the Dunes,” in a surrealist fable about the pitfalls of image retouching.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 9, 2020
‘Silent Tokyo’: All is not calm this Christmas Eve
In Takafumi Hatano's blockbuster action thriller, a peace-loving terrorist threatens to blow up Tokyo, throwing the capital's citizens into a panic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 3, 2020
‘Alice in Borderland’: Deadly journey through the looking glass leaves little impression
Netflix's sci-fi suspense series about a young man forced to go through a series of twisted challenges takes place in a cityscape that looks all too familiar in 2020.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 25, 2020
‘Tezuka’s Barbara’: A dazzlingly dull descent into madness
Macoto Tezka's adaptation of his father's racy 1970s manga is visually intoxicating, but liable to leave viewers with a hangover.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2020
‘Me & My Brother’s Mistress’: Sneaky siblings will surprise you
When we first see Yoko (Nanami Kasamatsu), the stone-faced heroine of “Me & My Brother’s Mistress,” she’s looking right into the camera lens. Then she raises a camera of her own and starts taking photos, capturing her older brother, Kenji (Satoshi Iwago), emerging from a love hotel with someone...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2020
‘Sakura’: A family held together by dogged devotion
Hitoshi Yazaki turns Kana Nishino's novel about a family overcoming tragedy with the help of their dog into an amiable but wildly uneven drama.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 5, 2020
‘Georama Boy, Panorama Girl’: Not your typical teen romance
Natsuki Seta's playful adaptation of a manga by Kyoko Okazaki avoids the more conventional plot points of 'seishun eiga' (youth films).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 28, 2020
‘Dancing in Her Dreams’: Falling under the seductive spell of a bygone era
Hideyuki Tokigawa's film romanticizes the heyday of Hiroshima's strip theaters and the dancers who brought late-night fantasies to life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2020
Veteran Koji Yakusho brings his movie star clout to the Tokyo International Film Festival
This year's TIFF ambassador discusses the festival experience, the effects of COVID-19 on the film industry, and discovering his inner Marie Kondo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2020
‘True Mothers’: An intimate look at two sides of adoption
Naomi Kawase's drama tackles child adoption and teenage pregnancy with seriousness and compassion, while drawing a stand-out performance from Aju Makita.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2020
In ‘True Mothers,’ Naomi Kawase examines what makes a family
Naomi Kawase draws on personal experience in her new film, an intimate look at adoption that blurs the line between documentary and fiction.

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?